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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Parlez Vous Schadenfreude

Back to an old theme of schadenfreude. When a leader of a party in a democracy has to demand loyalty oaths from members of her party, you know the leader and the part are in deep doo-doo. Marois seems to be responding well to the accusations of being too authoritarian by being just the right amount of authoritarian. And I must admit that my delight is amplified by the fact that this latest intra-Parti Quebecois bout started (more or less) with disagreements over how to attract an NHL team to Quebec (and public funding, now out of favor in the US, seems to be a chois).

The best part is that the PQ was in the verge of victory as the local Liberals have been in power way too long, allowing all of the usual corruption scandals to fester and, even better, to be in power while the bridges are collapsing. Sure, the PQ can make a comeback, but there is little interest in their main raison d'etre of sovereignty. Now, folks just want a few bridges, some functional government, and maybe a doctor in the neighborhood.

Given that the PQ has threatened in the past to kick my daughter out of her current school, to limit her choices when she reaches CEGEP (unique Quebec school between high school and university), to cut the funding for my school, etc., I cannot help but enjoy the fratricide that is sovereigntist politics in Quebec. And more fun yet to come as Gilles Duceppe, who led his party into a crater, is now speaking again, saying that he supports Marois because he has to: "'She was elected. We have to work with her." If that is not tres enthusiastic, I don't know what is.

Stephen M. Saideman

Intro

Greetings! I am a political scientist, specializing in International Relations, my research and teaching focus on ethnic conflict and civil-military relations. I watch way too much TV, and I like movies as well so I tend to write about both and find IR stuff in pop culture. I rant alot about American politics and sometimes about Canadian politics. I like to take ideas I once learned a long time ago and apply them to whatever strikes my fancy.